


Puzzles

by Stareena



Category: Wallander (UK TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 08:47:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stareena/pseuds/Stareena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus has a really bad Monday, one that changes his life forever. (Set sometime after One Step Behind. This is the longer version of the one for class.)<br/>(Week 2 in fan-write-workshop.tumblr.com workshop)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puzzles

Running late again, Kurt was going to kill him. 

Magnus walked into police headquarters with his satchel on his shoulder and his gym bag in his left hand. Trying to open doors with his left hand while trying not to spill the coffee he had in his right, he made it to the morning briefing just as Kurt started talking. 

Another murder, young girl. She was pretty, Magnus thought looking over the paperwork. Sighing, he nodded as Kurt asked him to look over financials and anything that she may be tied to... well, anything he could find on the computer. Honestly it was amazing that Kurt continued to do so well as a human being with the limited knowledge of computers that he has. Looking at the picture of the girl once more, he felt that she looked familiar. 

"Magnus?" Anne-Britt spoke to him softly, breaking him from his thoughts. 

"Yeah? Sorry, she just..." Rather than say anything, he'd rather do his research first, "Right." He stood, grabbing all of his stuff and made his way into his corner of the office. Shoving the duffle bag under his desk, he sat the satchel and file on the desk. Lifting the cup to his mouth he discovered, much to his horror, that the barista had not secured the lid properly and managed to pour the cup all over his favorite grey and white striped cardigan. 

Jumping at the initial heat of the beverage, he stood stark still for a moment, closing his eyes. This was all he needed today. 

"Damnit." He said weakly. There was nothing for him to change into for work in his gym bag and his extra shirt that he kept in his locker, he grabbed two... no three weeks back when he had that blind date. Wait, that was five weeks ago. Eyes closed again remembering that he had forgotten to call her the next day to thank her for a great night.  
Picking up his phone he debated whether or not to give her a call or send her a text message. Either way seemed... desperate. Still there was the matter of the blackening of his cardigan with coffee. Grabbing his satchel and the file he walked out of the office, not answering Anne-Britt when she called to him.

Back in his flat, Magnus tossed the file and satchel on his living room table and went to change in his bedroom. It never failed to depress him, his room. The empty walls, the bed alone with the one side table, the small table with his clothes atop it. Void of personality. You'd never know he'd been there four years already. 

Stepping out of his room in clean jeans and jumper, Magnus had made up his mind to at least leave a voicemail on his date's answerphone. It was then he realized where he recognized the girl in the photograph, the dead girl. 

Running out in the living room he pulled her photo from her file. Listed as a Jane Doe, he was relieved to see that she looked similar to his date, Annika, but it wasn't her. They could be sisters, however. Dialing Annka he stared at the photograph as her answerphone picked up. 

"Annka, hey. It's Magnus. I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to call you. Work... well... there is no excuse for it. I just... I just wanted to let you know that I had a really good time... when we went out and if you don't completely hate me and if you're not married by now, I'd like to take you out again. Even if you just want to hang up on me, feel free to call me back. Please. Thanks." He pressed the end call button and sat back. 

"Mrow." 

Sitting up, Magnus looked over at his kitchen. 

"The Hell-" 

Standing, he walked over to the kitchen and looked down. A calico kitten sat looking up at him. 

"Mrow." She said to him. 

"Where the Hell did you come from?" Magnus looked about his kitchen for the answer before he realized that he had left the sliding door in the kitchen open enough for the kitten to make her way in. Rubbing his hand through his blond curls while he looked at the small creature, Magnus tried to think up a solution. "I'll have to see if Mrs. Thortensen can take you." 

The kitten walked up and rubbed against Magnus' leg, purring as she did. It made him feel horribly guilty. 

"Well... She'd be out right now. I suppose you can stay for the day then I'll talk with her tonight." Glancing at his watch he sighed. Horribly behind for the day and it was just going to get worse. "I'll be right back. I'll go and get some things for you." Grabbing his jacket and gun, Magnus walked out of his flat and to his car. 

It took longer than he wanted but managed to have gotten some litter and cat food for the thin cat. Showing her several times where the litter box was and where her food was, the kitten gobbled up a full can and most of the bowl of dry while he looked over the case details. 

Jane Doe, found strung up to a tree. Most of her clothing miss, what little remained was shredded. Autopsy was still pending but it was looking like Asphyxiation was the cause of death due to the ligature marks around her neck. 

Driving back to the precinct, Magnus kept running through the details on their Jane Doe but his mind kept trailing back to his date and Annka, it was unnerving him that she looked so much like the victim. When his phone rang, it startled him so bad that he swerved the car, nearly wrecking with an oncoming truck. Pulling the car over to the side of the road, Magnus took a breath before picking up his phone. 

"Martinsson." He announced, accepting the call. 

"Magnus, it's Kurt, where the hell are you?" 

"I had to take care of something, I'm on my way in right now." Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose, he could feel the onset of a migraine beginning to form already. 

"A lead on our Jane Doe?" 

"No-" 

"Identity of our Jane Doe?" 

"No, Kurt-" 

"Magnus, we don't have time for this. I 'll see you when you get back." 

The line went dead. Sitting in his car, Magnus felt his frustration and anger rise. For a moment he wasn't sure if he wanted to cry or shoot something. The sudden thought of shooting anything made him remember that day back at Kurt's house, when he shot and killed Ake, or Louise as he was better known. It still made his stomach turn, knowing he had ended a life despite all reason telling him that Ake was a murder. The mandatory psychiatric counseling sessions had done a little good, he decided that keeping up with the appointments couldn't hurt. Still, he did so in secret. 

Walking into the precinct he was met by Kurt and Anne-Britt walking towards him. 

"We've found next of kin. We're on our way to interview them right now." Kurt announced. Magnus hesitated, he always felt one step behind the rest of the team, no matter how hard he tried. Turning, he followed them out. 

Klara Stendhal sat sobbing into a handkerchief as Kurt tried very gently tried prying information on her daughter, Marta from her. Anne-Britt watched and played the empathic cop while Magnus took notes and looked around the house. 

The kitchen door opened and Annka walked in, switching off her mobile. Magnus blinked. 

"Annka?" He stood, dumbfounded. In person, she looked exactly like the woman in the photo. They had to be related. 

"Magnus? What the hell-" Annka walked up to him before realizing others were in the room. "Mum? What's...going on?" She turned and looked over at the kitchen table where the others sat. Taking her arm, Magnus pulled Annka over to the couch in the living room. 

"Annka, I think you should sit down, please." 

Backing up into the couch and sitting hard, Annka kept her green eyes on him. 

"Magnus...?" She said quietly, like a small scared child. 

Holding her hand he kneelt in front of her. 

"Annka... Marta, was she your sister?" 

"Was?" 

He watched her skin pale before his very eyes. 

"Annka..." He placed a hand on her shoulder when his phone rang. Silently cursing, he gave her an apologetic look. Perhaps the time to let it sink in would be better. Apologizing, Magnus stood and answered the phone, walking outside. 

"Mr. Martisson, this is Dr. Engman's office calling." 

"Yes, hello." Magnus couldn't imagine why his doctor would be calling him. 

"Dr. Engman was wanting to schedule a time for you to come in and chat." His secretary said. 

Magnus looked back at the house, irritated with the phone call already. 

"About what?" 

"Well, he had some things to talk with you about and he wanted to do so face to face." 

Magnus stopped fidgeting and looked up from the ground. 

"What about?" 

"Mr. Martisson, I really think..." 

"Ma'am, I am a homicide detective and I don't have any time to come in in the foreseeable future, if you could just tell me what he was planning to discuss I could then ask my supervisors for time off, otherwise it will have to wait for a while." 

The line was quite long enough for Magnus to check it was still connected. 

"Ma'am?" 

"One moment." The hold music was classic crap elcectro jazz that was suppose to sound hip but was really plastic sounding. It grated his teeth. 

Checking his watch, he knew he would be working late into the night and he hadn't eaten anything yet. Perhaps he could convince Kurt to stop for a tunnbrödsrulle. Yes it was trash food, but it was the best for long nights on a case. 

"Detective Martinsson?" A male voice asked on the phone. 

"Dr. Engman? What's going on?" Magnus asked. 

"I really rather hoped we could have done this in person, Magnus, but I thought you should know that we discovered some abnormalities with your blood work, which was why we asked you to come back for further testing." 

"I was told a clinical error had lost my samples." Magnus felt his chest tighten up. 

"I will speak to my staff about that," The Doctor's voice was equally tense, this was bad, whatever it was. 

"What is it?" 

"Magnus, you tested positive for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Do you know what that is?" 

"No." Magnus sat on the front steps of the house, his legs feeling suddenly weak. 

"It's... well it's incredibly rare to begin with but even more so in people under the age of 40. It's a type of dementia." The doctor paused, "I really do think that you need to come in and see me so that we can talk about this more." 

"Is that it? About the disease?" Magnus asked, starting to feel his stomach turn. 

"It's... it's fatal. Once symptoms are noticed, usually within a year." 

Magnus covered his mouth and looked away. Was this how the family of murdered victims felt? This feeling of seasickness while not moving? 

"I'll... I'll call you back." Magnus hung up the phone and leaned over the side of the steps. 

Everything kept moving, his mind kept turning nothing would hold still long enough for him to make sense of it. Feeling like he was drowning, he gasped. Needles pricked at his eyes, creating a new sensation for him to hate. Burying his face into his arms he sat on the front stoop and cried, praying that this was a really bad dream. Eventually, he was able to compose himself. At the very least he needed to tell Anne-Britt or Kurt what was going on, he was emotionally compromised and he needed to take a couple of days off.  
Slowly he climbed to his feet, wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeves and walked back in the house. Annka had moved to the kitchen table and was talking with the others about her twin sister Marta. 

"Kurt, I need to talk to you, please." Magnus said, his voice low. 

"What is it?" Kurt looked over his glass of water. 

"It's.. It's important." Magnus insisted. 

"Yes?" Kurt looked peeved. The questioning was not going well apparently. 

"It's personal." 

"Then it will have to wait." Kurt turned back to Klara and Annka. 

Magnus stood awkwardly in the living room, shocked and hurt that Kurt was not listening to him, then again, when did he ever? Feeling that sting at his eyes, Magnus clenched his jaw, keeping the tears and anger at bay. 

"Kurt, I need to take a couple of days off." 

If looks could kill... Magnus would be dead. 

"We will discuss it later." Kurt replied. Annka looked up at Magnus, a curious combination of despair and wonder on her face, he could tell that she sensed it and she didn’t even know what it was. 

"I'm dying, Kurt." 

The immediate silence that fell over the room sickened Magnus. 

_Please, not pity._ He thought. 

The look of the hardened detective fell from Kurt's face and the father, the mentor look was there. Softened and melted, mixed with confusion and shock. 

"What?" Anne-Britt turned around and stared at Magnus in horror. Her bright blue eyeliner made her already large eyes even bigger. If it wasn't such a solemn moment, Magnus would have laughed. 

"Some.. dementia disease, Cro- Jacobson or rather... I, I don't remember it. It's fatal though and rare. Extremely rare in people under 40. Guess, this means I'm special after all." He chuckled darkly before hanging his head. The tears won and he pressed his long fingers to his eyes, covering them for shame. 

Once more he clenched his jaw, uncomfortable talking about this in front of strangers. There was something odd, a phenomenon that occurs between a police officer and a survivor when you break bad news to them. A bonding that sometimes occur making that person closer than family. Klara, the mother of one dead girl and another girl he took out once stood slowly and walked over to him. Wrapping her arms around him, she held the young detective and allowed him to cry. Stroking his hair, Klara began to cry again, this time more softly. Magnus, hearing her sobs, rubbed her back through their embrace, consoling her in return.  
Sniffling, Klara pulled away gently and looked up at his face. 

"You know my Annka?" She asked. 

"We went out once. I never called her, I got caught up in work and busy." He laughed briefly while still crying. 

"Perhaps now it is best to make time." She said quietly, pressing something into his hand. Looking down, Magnus saw it was a rosary. It was a small one, for a child, with opal like stones as counting beads. Looking up at her face, Magnus' brow furrowed with confusion. "It was Marta's. It brought her comfort in dark times, perhaps it could do the same for you." 

"Thank you." He whispered, closing his fingers around the gift. "I'm.. I'm going to get some fresh air.. excuse me." He looked at each person before he left. Klara's eyes were sad but full of motherly concern, Annka was too shocked to process anything, she was lost. Looking at Anne-Britt made Magnus angry, there was pity on her face but Kurt looked sad. His eyes were glassy and a couple of tears slid down his cheeks. Nodding to the young detective, Kurt wiped them away. 

Stepping outside, Magnus took a slow deep breath. Trying to reasonably think through what he was feeling, it was still too soon to make sense. Still, there was no guarantee he would be dead in less than a year, he may not be exhibiting any symptoms. Dr. Engman said he tested positive, perhaps there were treatments that could prolong his life.  
In a month and a half, he would be turning 31. Here he thought he had years to find love, start a family, build on his career and make a life for himself. Now, he would be forced to press fast forward on his life. What was really important to him? 

Sitting, Magnus watched the stark white of the clouds pass through the endless azure of the daytime sky. While counting the beads on his rosary, he decided to keep the kitten and name her Marta.


End file.
